Against the Grain (26 page)

•         •         •

Shu-Shu was in her office speaking with a client when she got the call on her phone. She excused herself, walked outside, and got in a Mercedes. As she pulled out of the car lot, the Feds were turning into it. When they recognized her, they chased her while other agents surrounded the exotic-car dealership. Shu-Shu took them on a high-speed chase that led into the city.

By now they had the Washington, D.C., police to assist them in the chase. Even with all their training in high-speed driving, they were no match for Shu-Shu. She dipped in and out of traffic like she was Jeff Gordon. She stopped the car on Thirteenth and F Street NW, jumped out and ran into the Metro Center subway station. The Feds were a few yards behind her. They knew that she could blend into the crowd and disappear. She got on the Red Line train. The agents reached the door just as it closed. The train started to move. Shu-Shu gave the agents the middle finger and said, “Fuck you!”

When the train stopped at Gallery Place she got off and caught the Green Line train to L’Enfant Plaza. There she jumped on an Orange Line train to New Carrolton, Maryland, where she got off and took the escalator downstairs to an underground parking lot. She had an old ’95 Toyota Camry parked there. She opened the trunk where she had stored a couple of bags. She opened the first one and it was full of clothes. She took out a dark blue and white Nike sweatsuit and a pair of white Nike Air Max sneakers. She looked around to see if anyone was watching. When she didn’t see anybody, she stepped out of her skirt and heels, then put on the sweatpants and sneakers. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and put on a blue N. Y. Yankees hat. She opened the other bag where she had a passport, a few grand, a picture of Kay, and a picture of her mother. She zipped the bag closed, shut the trunk, and looked around once more to make sure shit was safe. She got in the car and started it. She took the towel from the backseat and whipped the sweat from her face. She turned on the AC, put on her Chloe shades, and drove off into the sunlight.

•         •         •

When Kay got back to the supermax that day, he was no longer the legend that everyone thought he was. Niggaz knew he was snitching so they talked shit to him as he was escorted back to his cell.

“Fuck them niggaz,” Kay said to himself. They didn’t know what he was going through. They would have done the same thing if their mother’s life was on the line.
Yeah, fuck them dope-fiend-ass niggaz,
he thought.

32

The next day Kay sat on his bed in his cell, reading a book called
Preconceived Notions
by Robyn Williams when the guard came to his door and told him he had a visitor. He got dressed. The officer handcuffed him and escorted him to the visiting area. He saw Janita’s face. They smiled at each other through the window. He sat down and picked up the phone to talk to her.

“What’s up, shorty?”

“Hi, handsome,” she said with an even bigger smile.

“I didn’t think you would come.”

“You sent for me, didn’t you?”

“How’s Lady doing?”

“Not too good. She said that after losing Scatter, then you, that it was just too much for her. She said to tell you that she loves you and for you to do whatever you have to do to get home to the people that love you. She said that she’ll be here for your court date. She told me that she wrote you yesterday, so you should be getting a letter and some money from her. She said you better write her back this time. Since Scatter’s gone, you’re all she has,” Janita told him.

“Well, tell her that I love her, too, but I don’t want anyone to come to my sentencing. And I promise to write her.”

“Kay, you really fucked up this time. I had no idea that you were doing it like that. You’ve made the front page of the
Baltimore Sun
every day since you got picked up. You made the front page of
USA Today
and you’re national news. They’re saying that you will never see the streets again.” Janita’s smile dimmed as sadness crept into her eyes.

“I know, ma. I didn’t think shit would get like this. The Feds play a wicked game. A motherfuckin’ marshal told me that there were two kinds of niggaz in prison: those that told and those that wish they had told. This shit is crazy.”

“Try not to worry about it too much. I’m going to be there for you this time. No matter what they give you. Just let me know what you want me to do,” she said.

“How is everything at your job?”

She nodded. “It’s okay.”

“Are you still waiting for your big story? Did you bring your writing pad like Warren told you? ’Cause I’m about to tell you everything. My side of the story. Names, places, everything. Everything that I gave to the Feds,” he told her. She stared at him for a moment.

“I know what you’re thinking. Why am I doing this, right? Because my lawyers told me that every reporter and every news station in the country keeps calling them so that they can talk to me or at least get a statement. I figured that I would give it to someone that I care about . . . a lot.” At the sound of that she smiled at him. “It’s like this, Janita. All my life I’ve been living for myself and not thinking about the ones I hurt the most when I go to prison. I’m not proud of what I had to do, but I had to start thinking about my family. Someone told me not long ago that I was special because I change the lives of everyone I come to know, be it in a good way or a bad way. I guess it’s true because of all the shit that’s been going on lately. Just make sure you make me look like a saint when you do your story on me,” he smiled.

“I gotchu, nigga,” she said with a smile, knowing that this story was about to change her life . . . for the good.

Kay gave it to her raw. They had to stop here and there for her to catch up, but when it was all said and done, she had an exclusive.

Because she was the only reporter that Kay would talk to, people would be lined up to interview her and find out why. She got ready to leave. She looked in Kay’s eyes and said, “I’ve always loved you. From the day I met you at the car wash, I’ve loved you. I don’t know where I would be right now, if it wasn’t for you. I promise, Kay, I’m going to be here for you.” Kay was at a loss for words. She’d caught him off guard with the love thing. His heart was with Shu-Shu.

“We’ll talk, shorty,” he said.

Janita hung up the phone.

33

Federal agents had the BWI Airport staked out. They figured Shu-Shu would show up sooner or later. A white woman was in the bathroom washing her hands. She didn’t see Shu-Shu walk up behind her. By the time she did notice her, Shu-Shu emptied almost an entire can of pepper spray in her face. Then Shu-Shu kicked her in her stomach, knocking the breath out of her. The woman fell to the floor. Shu-Shu hurried out of the bathroom and disposed of the pepper spray in the first trash can she found. As she walked toward the gate where her plane was boarding for England, she heard a loud scream from the woman who had found the body on the bathroom floor. Everyone took off in that direction, even the agents that were standing by the checkin desk. One of the agents knocked Shu-Shu down. He stopped and helped her.

“I’m sorry, ma’am. Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?”

Before she could respond, he got on his radio and called for assistance. When his partner came to his aid and told him that the old woman in the bathroom was alright, they helped Shu-Shu down the ramp and to her seat on the plane.

“God bless you, young men. Thank you so much for helping an old woman like me. These old bones of mine ain’t what they use to be,” Shu-Shu said with a smile. The agents made sure that she was okay one last time, and they got off the plane. When the plane was finally in the air, Shu-Shu exhaled and said out loud, “Stupid motherfuckers.”

34

Because of Kay’s cooperation more than 250 people were arrested. Almost all waived their right for trial and pled guilty to a variety of minor narcotic charges. A few guys went to trial and the government used all the ones that pled guilty to testify against them, including Kay.

Kay got a life sentence. The government upheld their part of the deal and the 5K1.1 motion was granted. The judge reduced Kay’s sentence from life to three hundred months or twenty-five years. Kay was sentenced to Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, N.C. He pretty much stayed to himself. The only person he cut into was his celly, a guy from Salisbury, N.C. Everybody called him Smoove because of his skills on the basketball court. The two of them became real tight. They worked out and cooked together. They talked about their glory days on the streets and would sometimes argue for hours about who was the best rapper between Tupac and Biggie. Especially on Saturday afternoons when WNCU’s DJ Bro Raab, Mike Nice, and the Butta Team would play underground hip-hop from four to eight on 90.7.

Kay got a bachelor’s degree in business from Shaw University through an educational program set up by the prison’s Education Department. He became a certified optician. Kay didn’t have too much contact with the outside world. Mama and the rest of the family were settled in Atlanta. She opened a day care, and Lyniece opened a hair salon that catered to celebrities. Tramaine and Pooh got married and had a son and opened an urban clothing store. Caleek still ran around fucking everything. He started his own record label. Sonia met a guy and they had a set of twin girls. Dre and Mina were never seen again, but every now and then, Kay would get a postcard from a different exotic location with nothing on it and he knew it was them.

Gee went back to Baltimore after Kay got sentenced and some young boys shot him up. While he was in the hospital, the Feds indicted him on the same case as Kay. He’s in the federal system now.

Lady moved to Raleigh, N.C., so that she could be near Kay. He didn’t want her to come see him, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She visited him every week, sometimes twice a week. His lawyer, Warren Downs, was the only other person allowed to come see him. He called Mama, C-Allah, and Kaneeka every other day.

Janita’s career flourished after she was allowed exclusive interviews with Kay about his case. She went on to become a news anchor for Channel 2 News in Baltimore. Then she went into the field for CNN and covered major stories all over the world. Kay would always see her on TV, but never let anyone know that he knew her. She wrote him every week but he never wrote back. He wouldn’t even call her.

35

Kay was given a Rule 35 time reduction for his continued assistance to the government. The judge cut his three-hundred-month sentence down to eighty-four months—seven years. He served five years, seven months, and then had to do six months in a halfway house in Atlanta, where he relocated. The day he was released from FCI Butner, he was on his way to the bus station. When he walked out the door, Janita was waiting for him. She was leaning against a rental car. Kay walked over to her. She looked at him and asked, “Why didn’t you answer any of my letters? I thought I had done something wrong until I spoke to Lady.”

“Nah, it’s just that you’re doing so good for yourself. I didn’t want anyone to find out that we were connected and then it fucks up your career, that’s all. Plus, I can’t do my time with a woman. Some dudes can, I can’t. It makes it a lot easier. I see you still looking fine as hell though,” he told her with a big smile.

“Shit, you the one shining. Look at you, nigga. Damn! You all swoll and shit.
Umph, umph, umph!
”

“How did you know I was getting out today? I didn’t tell anyone, not even Lady.”

“I’ve called up here a few times over the years and talked to your unit manager, Ms. Benton. She would tell me how you were doing from time to time. Well, I called a few months ago and she told me that you were going to be released, but she asked me not to say anything.” They both stared at each other for a moment.

“Damn, I want to touch you so bad right now,” Kay said with a serious look on his face.

“You don’t know how bad I want you to touch me right now.”

Without breaking eye contact they kissed a long and wet kiss, then held each other.

“You don’t know how many years I’ve waited for that,” she said. Janita backed away from him and asked, “How long do you have before you have to report to the halfway house?”

“About twelve hours,” he told her.

“Well, our plane leaves in an hour. We’ve got plenty of time to talk. Remember the last thing you said to me when I interviewed you and told you that I’ve always loved you and that I would be here for you no matter what?”

Kay walked around to the passenger side of her car and got in. “Yeah, I said we’ll talk.”

She drove. “So where do we go from here?” she asked.

“Where do you want to take us?”

“I don’t care where we go, just as long as we’re together.” They smiled at each other.

“I ain’t tryin’ to do no talking when we get home,” Kay smiled.

Janita liked the sound of that, when he said “home.”

“Alright now. I hear you,” she said as she laughed.

“How long you been up here?” Kay asked.

“I flew up yesterday and spent time with my sister. She said to tell you hello and that she loves you. I spent the night with Lady. She said to tell you that she’ll be moving to Atlanta in a month. I’ve got to find her a place this week. If not, she’ll just stay with us for a while.” Kay laughed to himself. Lady wasn’t letting him get far from her.

“So what are your plans now?” She asked him.

The two of them talked all the way to the airport and then all the way home.

36

It had been five years since Kay was released from prison. Janita stopped reminiscing about everything that led up to this point in her life, when she heard her name announced for an award for her advancement in outstanding journalism. Everyone clapped and gave her a standing ovation at the televised event. Janita stood up and kissed Kay. She kissed Kaneeka and the baby, then she kissed C-Allah. She walked on stage and accepted her Pulitzer prize.

When the crowd finally stopped clapping and sat down, she thanked everyone she could think of who she had met over the years. Then she said, “And finally, before I leave, I’d like to thank my husband, because without him I wouldn’t be where I am today. I love you, honey.” The camera went to Kay, who sat in the front row.

He mouthed the words, “I love you, too.”

She continued, “And I’d like to thank our children for putting up with me when I couldn’t give them a hundred percent of myself because of my job. I love you all. This is for you.” She lifted her award in the air. Everyone clapped as she left the stage.

•         •         •

Sitting in a TV room full of inmates at the United States Penitentiary in Lompoc, California, serving a life sentence was Joey You. He startled the rest of the inmates when he laughed out loud uncontrollably. They all looked at him as if he were crazy. Some even got up and moved away from him. Joey didn’t care. He laughed until it hurt. When he couldn’t laugh anymore he got up and walked out of the TV room and went to his cell.

Noticing the smile on Joey’s face, his Asian cellmate asked him in their native Thai, “What are you so happy about? You got word on your appeal?”

“No not yet. The lawyers are still working on it,” Joey responded in Thai. Then he continued in English, “I was just watching this awards show and while this black girl was thanking her family the camera showed them.” He paused a moment, then he smiled and said, “Kay is her husband. I will never forget his motherfucking black face. I’m putting another million dollars on his head and a hundred thousand for each family member killed. Women and children included. I want his bloodline stopped so that he doesn’t produce any more fucking snitches.”